Jack prices to 70 I don't care. Online passes have already caused me to go from 8-12 60$ games a year to 1-2 new non steam sale games a year. Bring it to 70 so I never buy a new game ever again lol.
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NPD January 2012 Sales Results [Up2: MW3 Sales, (Down ~50% Over BLOPS, But Still #1)]
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
Jack prices to 70 I don't care. Online passes have already caused me to go from 8-12 60$ games a year to 1-2 new non steam sale games a year. Bring it to 70 so I never buy a new game ever again lol.
JoshuaJSlone
Member
Calling some of those PlayStation exclusive is a stretch. GameCube was the premiere Resident Evil console last generation, though PS2 has exclusive spinoffs. Xbox ended up with all the GTA games, though they weren't all launched together. Xbox had Metal Gear Solid 2, while GameCube got The Twin Snakes.Petrichor said:
I've got to assume not everyone does, with comments likepieatorium said:
"I guess this explains the quiet price drop for the 3DS"
"3DS can't maintain doing good numbers"
"'dat' 3DS drop; I mean, WOW!
"Its time for the next gen, and it needs to focus at first on "core gamers". Two years of this will allow dropping to lower prices, bringing in casuals.
Right now software is stagnating, hardware is stagnant as hell.
I have a Kinect, bought it for the kid....gimmick. Like the Wii, Kinect is a gimmick, amazing way to get a nice bump in sales, get the casuals to buy, but it just doesn't hold the interest like good normal gaming. Yep it is cool...it has uses for some niches, but it doesn't really get used a month later.
Almost all my game buying is now PC, Steam. I am not just about better graphics, but at this point, consoles have little innovation and no graphics leaps to bring the excitement.
New gens tend to bring out new IPs...usually innovation but rough around the edges. Then a bunch of refinement / best part of the cycle, the middle. Now we are in an extended trough of the end - every game looks decent but the jumps aren't there. Few new big IPs - seems even if a decent one comes up, the saturation with established IPs crushes them.
Right now software is stagnating, hardware is stagnant as hell.
I have a Kinect, bought it for the kid....gimmick. Like the Wii, Kinect is a gimmick, amazing way to get a nice bump in sales, get the casuals to buy, but it just doesn't hold the interest like good normal gaming. Yep it is cool...it has uses for some niches, but it doesn't really get used a month later.
Almost all my game buying is now PC, Steam. I am not just about better graphics, but at this point, consoles have little innovation and no graphics leaps to bring the excitement.
New gens tend to bring out new IPs...usually innovation but rough around the edges. Then a bunch of refinement / best part of the cycle, the middle. Now we are in an extended trough of the end - every game looks decent but the jumps aren't there. Few new big IPs - seems even if a decent one comes up, the saturation with established IPs crushes them.
Have notes showing publisher breakdown that month, and EA was at $141m with 41.7% marketshare => ~$335m. Will see if can find a citation.
Edit:
GAF thread with more publishers and previous months for reference.
Edit2:
Should've gone more with the raw result of $141m @ 41.7% marketshare.
August 2004 software sales were $337m from GameSpot.Once again, donny2112 is ace. Thanks!Have notes showing publisher breakdown that month, and EA was at $141m with 41.7% marketshare => ~$335m. Will see if can find a citation.
Edit:
GAF thread with more publishers and previous months for reference.
Edit2:
Should've gone more with the raw result of $141m @ 41.7% marketshare.
I doubt I am even going to get consoles after this generation. Portable stuff, especially tablets, are just too convenient, and really, if I'm not buying anything for my current consoles, I'm not sure why exactly that would change for new ones. The problem is that they are not putting out truly fun games at decent prices...and I don't want to buy another $300 machine where that will continue to happen.
MikeE21286
Member
did we ever get anything on FFXIII-2 sales numbers?
Baron_Calamity
Member
Yes but only for dedicated consoles. The problem is the typical consumer, after they get a dozen games, they are done. They are thinking, "Why buy another shooter for this box? I already have one." Then soon as a new box comes out, "Ah, a new box! I wonder if they have any shooters?"
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
One must wonder though - how much of the "we can't make new IPs after the start of a new generation" is a self-fulfilling prophesy? Does the average person become disinterested because there are never fresh games, and so they give up watching or waiting for them?
The industry desperately tries to "dial in" what it thinks are the 2-3 big things each gen then proceeds to run those genres into the ground.
I don't know how many mainstream game consumers this applies to, but in my time I have seen a pattern where people buy a console, try a few games of various genres, then get bored of the console where there is nothing really new or interesting. Then it is futile; if a fresh game does come along every so often, the average person has already put the console away and it's collecting dust.
dead souls
Member
Yep, $70 games would be a huge misstep.
Petrae
Member
Final Fantasy XIII-2 was released outside of the January NPD data collection window. Sales will be factored into February's results.
UberTag
Member
February's a fun month.
New Final Fantasy game.
New Uncharted game.
New Resident Evil game.
UFC Undisputed 3 will be the best-reviewed new release of the month.
Gaming audiences will collectively shrug their shoulders at all of this and scoop up more Call of Duty and Just Dance. Nothing worth buying until Mass Effect hits in March. Gotta shoot things. Can't get enough shooting. Gotta keep playing Call of Duty until we can shoot more stuff in Mass Effect world. Everyone else just keeps buying dance games and playing on their smartphones.
What the world needs is a dancing game where you shoot stuff? Why hasn't this combination happened yet? I want to pull off dance moves that charge up my guns so I can simultaneously blast zombies while doing the splits. When do I get to play this game? Is it on my iPhone?
Space Channel 5 and P.N.03 kinda did it.
No zombies and no motion-related controls though.
So you list people will ignore Uncharted and Resident Evil... because they like to shoot stuff.. but both of those games...
Hahaha, well it goes to show that I really liked the game at least.
ShellyDeKiller
Member
Petrae
Member
What's more interesting to me about that FT article is the Activision downgrade by Mcquarie Securities and its note about "dark clouds and negative perceptions" hanging over the industry. I think that there's some fear spreading that video gaming's biggest moneymaking days are behind it. If investors start pulling out, I'll be curious to see how that affects the industry in general.
specialguy
Banned
Yeah, the only question to me seems whether this is typical generational cycling or something more profound. I'm personally pretty sure it's the former though.
But I'm sure there's some who think smartphones and tablets are now destroying the actual console market and not just handhelds.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
The Battlefield effect? It also can't help that there are now 4 CoD games in the XBL top 20 - people who invested hundreds of hours and dollars into MW2 and Black Ops don't feel the need to upgrade.
bigtroyjon
Member
Won't affect the industry at all aside from Kotick being able to afford one less Bentley next year.
If that happens I hope Notch funds Mirror's Edge 2.
Petrae
Member
I'd also throw out there the idea that limiting DLC behind a premium Elite subscription also hurts residual sales potential. In years past, arrival of new map packs drove mild/moderate spikes of sales around the time of DLC release. Now that it's $50 additional to access these, rather than $15, the price of entry may seem a bit more prohibitive, leading consumers to stay with what they already have.
Just a theory.
Duxxy3
Member
Market saturation had to happen at some point.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
Wait, you can't buy the map packs individually anymore?
Very exciting! Has the God Almighty tumbled?
bigtroyjon
Member
Will be pretty easy to test that theory when the first non Elite DLC collection comes out for sale. I think you might be right and the game could spike up again since renewed marketing will probably also come with it.
Petrae
Member
Not yet. Elite only. I believe DLC hits for non-Elite players next month.
ShellyDeKiller
Member
Well, in that case that means Elite members get the maps earlier, not that DLC is for Elite members only.
Right.
JoshuaJSlone
Member
These people aren't Sales-Age material. It's common for a franchise to get more frontloaded as it's more established, leaving fewer people to buy it later.Financial Times said:
Damon Bennet
Member
Space Channel 5 and P.N.03 kinda did it.
No zombies and no motion-related controls though.
I always wanted a crossover.
dancing and shooting stuff in some sci-fi location. it is time to bring ulala and vanessa back
Sho_Nuff82
Member
Both MW2 and Black Ops had higher launch sales and higher ltd sales than their predecessors. Looking at the UK and some Nordic weekly sales, it's clear that BF3 has taken some of the wind out of MW3's sales ww.
Yeah but in terms of growth it means the fanbase has settled and is not growing which indicates we might be seeing the peak of CoD.
Petrae
Member
That's right. However, a 6-8 week delay for those not willing to pay the $50 entry fee is potentially one of the factors that's kept post-holiday sales down. I see why ATVI did it this way, but it's arguably come with a cost of fewer residual sales.
Petrae
Member
Sales deceleration is much more pronounced with MW3, versus Black Ops or MW2. Also interesting is that both Just Dance 3 (Wii) and Skyrim (360) outpaced MW3 on the individual SKU chart for January.
Proper words.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
With the number of leaks you've already posted, you might as well post the real top 10 and the hw numbers.
More like, the peeps are getting jaded.
RukusProvider
Banned
Skyrim is the biggest surprise, in terms of success, to me. It seems to be out doing anyone's wildest guess.
Would you be able to drop a hint about LTD split ratio for 360/ps3?
I think Skyrim was helped a lot because Oblivion was 5+ years ago. People were ready for another Elder Scrolls.
walking fiend
Member
from my previous data, CoD ~12m excluding PC.
RukusProvider
Banned
Yes but if I recall, Skyrim has outsold Oblivion handidly. It would seem that RPG, well executed and marketed, have a good oppotunity to succed. Mass Effect is another example.
My impression is that lots of people who have never played an elder scrolls game are buying skyrim.